


If I Tell You A Secret

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 10:43:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20890802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: What if Ladybug decides she's had enough and just tells Chat Noir who she is?





	If I Tell You A Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Um, it's me again. I guess there's no rest for the wicked!  
I don't know what it is with these songs that just pop up out of nowhere and remind me of these two. So, here you go. Another song-inspired story. Another reveal fic (if you needed one).  
I usually write happy, light fics. I don't know why this turned out a little different, a bit heavy, I think. Anyway, I hope you like it!

_ If I tell you a secret _

_ Will you promise to keep it _

_ Keep it close to your heart _

_ And never tell a soul? _

_ Because I have a secret _

_ And it's hell trying to keep it _

_ It tears right through my heart _

_ And it swallows me whole _

_ (Oceanlab - Secret (Andrew Bayer remix)) _

Marinette was tired of lying. That was the simple truth.

She had been lying to her parents, to her teachers, to her friends, to her partner and sometimes even to herself. 

She always told herself it was necessary, that they were little white lies that wouldn’t hurt anyone, that they were for the greater good. But this excuse worked until a certain point. She’d reached it. She was fed up with it. 

She needed to have at least one person she could tell everything. To vent. To unload all the accumulated pressure from all the other lies. Because she couldn’t prevent them all. She still had a city to save. A villain to defeat. A superhero identity to hide. 

Now that Master Fu was on the run she couldn’t go to him. And the talks with him had helped her. Now she was alone. Completely alone. 

Of course, Tikki was a great source of relief. She could tell her everything. But even Tikki couldn’t understand the weight on her shoulders that came with having to hide from everyone. With having a part of her that no one was allowed to know about. How confusing and tiresome it had become. 

The truth was that there was only one person who could understand her completely. Because he was going through the same thing. Because she was sure it was weighing him down in the same way it did her. And she’d lied to him too.

This was the lie that stung the most. It had seemed necessary at the time, only to turn out later that it hadn’t been. She’d panicked and she’d lied to the only person she trusted implicitly and knew for a fact trusted her the same way. And he’d always been so honest with her. 

But how was she supposed to do that? Break the one rule she’d been adamant about from the very beginning. Their identities were secret and were supposed to remain that way at any cost. But what if the cost was too great to pay? If the cost was her crumbling under the pile of lies? Her being so tired of deceiving everyone that she just gave up? Would this help the people of Paris? What good would a disheartened and resigned Ladybug be against Hawk Moth?

She had to do something before it got so bad. Before she reached the point of no return. 

It was scary and there was no way to know if it was the right thing to do. But she had to take that risk. Her only consolation was in knowing that Chat was the best person to keep her secret. He would never do anything to jeopardise her safety. There was the added worry of how he was going to take this reveal but she tried very hard not to think about that. 

*

She was nervous. But she was already there. She had to go through with it. 

It had been a stroke of luck to manage to get through to him on the first try. He’d been out and around, trying to clear his head, he’d said. So she’d just asked him to meet her. She had something to tell him. He’d agreed without hesitation. At least, that way she had less time to overthink things.

“M’lady?” she heard his hesitant voice behind her. No time like the present. 

“Hey, kitty, thanks for meeting me at such short notice,” she said, turning to him.

“Anything for you,” he said and smiled. Oh but wasn’t he sweet?

“Um… so I have this thing I want to tell you,” she started then paused, overcome by a sudden bout of nervousness. Why was it so hard?

“I’m all ears,” he said, wiggling his cat ears to emphasise his point. She couldn’t resist smiling. He sure knew how to diffuse the tension. 

“I… don’t really know how to start.”

“Take as long as you need.”

Him being all sweet and understanding was supposed to help her. But it somehow distracted her. She wondered if he’d be the same once he knew who she was.

“So you know how big I am on the whole “identities should remain a secret” thing?” She said looking away, into the night. 

“Yes,” he replied, although it had been more of a rhetoric question. 

“But this basically means that you end up lying to everyone, right? Since no one is supposed to know. You come up with excuses, dodge questions, make yourself seem distracted and even crazy. All in the name of protecting your secret.” 

“I know what you mean. But there is no other way around it.” 

“But where do we draw the line? When does it become too much?” There was desperation in her voice now. She really needed an answer on this, but it wasn’t fair to expect it from him. He knew as much as her. 

“I don’t know, m’lady. It’s hard, but that’s what being a superhero is. It’s not always fair. And it’s lonely. But we know why we’re doing it.”

“But I lied to you, Chat!” she whirled around and clearly startled him.

“Wh-what?” he stuttered. 

He hadn’t expected it. And how could he? She’d told him long ago that she didn’t want to lie to him, that’s why she’d told him she was in love with someone else, even when hurting him had made her feel terrible. 

“I didn’t mean to! It all happened so quickly. I was looking for a way to distract you, I thought you’d really figured out who I was. And I just blurted that I was in love with you,” she finished almost whispering, turning away from him. 

But he heard her, if his shocked silence was anything to go by. She then heard a soft murmur,

“Marinette.” She knew he was smart and would figure it out. 

But she didn’t turn around. She couldn’t look at him, not yet. 

“I felt terrible even before the whole fiasco that followed. But do you know what’s really funny? I had no way of knowing that the lie would be back to haunt me even after I thought it was all over. Because it kind of turned out that it wasn’t entirely a lie. Because ever since that day, I’d been slowly falling for you. And I’m only realising it now, when it may be too late. When you may not want me anymore,” she finished, her eyes filling with tears.

There it was. The secret she’d tried to keep from herself. The thing about which she’d lied to herself over and over again. Never admitting that yes, her feelings for him were changing. That his tender words meant more for her than she let on. That the way he looked at her made her regret every single time she’d turned him down. That she sometimes found it really hard not to reach out and hug him. Hold him close. Tell him how she felt. 

She hadn’t wanted it to be true. Because it’d make things harder, she was sure. Even more complicated than they were already. And yet, here she was. It was the truth and she couldn’t hide it anymore. From herself and from him. She closed her eyes, trying to hold the tears in. She had to take whatever he told her now with dignity, even if her heart was breaking.

Then she felt two strong arms wrap her in a tight hug. He said nothing, just held her. She still didn’t know if it was a good thing or not. But she allowed herself to lose herself in his warmth. 

“What about that other guy?” he said eventually, his voice muffled by her hair. 

Oh, that. Right. He was right to wonder about that. 

“Well… let’s say I’d be a fool to hold on to that. After all Adrien told me he was in love with another girl.”

She still remembered that moment. When she’d felt like her world was collapsing around her. She’d been so shocked. Although, why had it been such a surprise? She knew he liked Kagami. And after all, she had no claim on him or his affections. She’d never told him how she felt about him, had even denied liking him as more than a friend. She was his friend and as such should want him to be happy with whoever he chose. 

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t immediately notice Chat stiffen behind her. But then she heard the sharp gasp that escaped his lips. And then she got almost dizzy as he turned her around in his arms. She saw his shocked expression. 

“You were in love with Adrien? All this time…” he trailed off. Well, there was no use hiding this from him now. 

“Yes.”

“Are you still in love with him?” he whispered, looking into her eyes intently. 

“I told you this would be foolish. Especially since I just admitted to having feelings for you. But most importantly, he loves someone else.”

“What if he doesn’t?” he said. She didn’t know what to make of the intense look in his eyes. Before she could ask him what he meant, he continued. “What if you got it wrong? Because he didn’t know that the girl he loved was right there in front of him in that very moment?”

She wasn’t sure she was following and her expression must have been one of confusion. And then he said “Claws in!” and it was no longer Chat who held her in his arms. But Adrien.

Marinette was shocked. No, she was dumbfounded. She couldn’t react, couldn’t utter a single word.

“There never was any other girl, Marinette. Only you. But I didn’t know it.” He said. “My heart has always belonged to Ladybug. And you’re Ladybug,” he added, voice full of wonder. 

She still couldn’t react. She didn’t think this was real. It was too good to be real. And then he cupped her face in his hands, leaning in, eyes locked with hers. 

“And how could you doubt the fact that I’d still want you when you revealed who you were? I swore from the very first moment that I loved the girl behind the mask. And it turns out it was you. My everyday Ladybug,” he whispered, closing his eyes. 

Marinette couldn’t imagine just standing there, doing nothing when he was that close to her. When he’d just said he still loved her. When the guy she’d loved for so long and the guy she was just beginning to love were the same person. 

So she closed the already small distance between them and kissed the lips she’d longed to kiss for so long. The same lips she’d already kissed. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she was thinking how funny it was that she’d kissed him as both Chat and Adrien and never made the connection. 

He must have been surprised by her sudden boldness, but recovered pretty quickly. He leaned into the kiss as she hugged him and pulled him closer. 

When they pulled back after a while, his eyes were shining with love and happiness. And she was pretty sure there was the same look in hers. 

“No more secrets?” he asked, smiling.

“No more secrets,” she confirmed and kissed him again. 

**Author's Note:**

> I just realised I'd completed the Love Square kisses! I didn't have a Ladrien one before now and did it without realising. Funny.


End file.
